Let's face it. Armor 2.0 really ruined a lot of things, for tankers and infantry alike. Whether it was the indestructibility of tanks that improved, or was the range of destructibility of those same vehicles. And with those changes, T-38 light tank's performance went down in all categories. It used to be a good and balanced tank that could beat other tanks by its speed, circling around them, however had inferior armor, which made it easy to destroy in an open field. Now it still has inferior armor that ricochets all but first few shots, is slow, and has low penetration values. I think it is time to improve at least on some of those points.
In few of my earlier games, I was about to destroy a Panzer I that I have caught from the back. We were in a forest with hills, I was rolling down a 10 degree hill, he sat on a 20 degree hill. As I was coming around to circle around him, so that I can take his aim off of me, I had only a few hull injuries, and as I just on to his hill climb, I get stuck. My engine was unable to move forward on a 20 degree plane, which surprised me, and I was unable to turn due to a 10 degree pane being behind me.
The tank's armor gets wrecked by any tank, M2A2 in two shots, Panzer I after a long serious of pounding at the front plate (the T-38 would not survive the time required to destroy the Panzer). The rotation plate gets destroyed in just a matter of seconds, making it useless to circle around other tanks, while engine could simply be wrecked soon after, making it pointless to run.
So, these are some of the points that I think that could be changed to shift the tides, making it a balanced tank that can present opposition, while also being weak in the other components.

Just for the record, I speak Russian and Ukrainian. And what you are saying is a very stereotypical knowledge of the Soviet gameplay style.
No, literal strategy, like flanking and like Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo.